Kai barely had a moment to process the fact that Zayne was standing there, solid and real, before the man's sharp voice cut through his thoughts like a blade. "Well, kid? Are you gonna stand there gawking, or will you bring your pathetic self over here? Time may be infinite in the Nexora, but my patience is not." The weight of his presence was suffocating. That familiar air of command, the unwavering confidence in his tone, it made something in Kai's throat tighten. Zayne wasn't just here to talk. Kai swallowed the storm of emotions rising inside him and forced himself to move forward. His boots clicked against the smooth ground as he closed the distance. His mind raced, remnants of their first meeting clung to him like a second skin, but he pushed it aside.
When he finally stood a few feet away from Zayne, the man tilted his head, studying him like a puzzle with missing pieces. "What does he want? Why now?" Umbra rocked back on her heels beside him, arms crossed over her chest, watching the exchange with the usual amusement in her dark eyes. Zayne exhaled, shaking his head. "You've gotten stronger. But still nowhere not strong enough." Kai scowled. "Not strong enough? I've been breaking myself in this damn place just to keep up. What the hell am I still missing?" Zayne's lips curled into something between a smirk and a grimace. "Well, everything." Kai clenched his fists. "Oh right, that sure is helpful." Zayne took a step forward, his voice turning cold. "I'm not here to coddle you, boy. You've scratched the surface of your potential, but something that small isn't enough. You think you're ready to fight the Leviathans? To wield your power without tearing yourself apart? No, you're still a reckless fool throwing wild swings and hoping for the best."
Kai's jaw tightened. "Then what the hell do you want me to do?" Zayne's eyes gleamed. "Learn The Drakon Dankana." Kai frowned. "The Draco what?" Zayne's expression darkened, his presence growing heavier. "A fighting style currently only know to me. One designed for those who exist outside time and bear the power to command it." The intensity in his voice sent a chill down Kai's spine. This wasn't just another skill....this was something deeper, something dangerous. Kai hesitated. "And what if I refuse to obey you?" Zayne's expression didn't change, but something in the air shifted. Without warning, he lifted his hand and clenched his fist. The change was immediate. Dark violet tendrils of energy surged toward Kai, lashing out like living shadows. He barely had time to react before they coiled around his limbs, slamming into his core with an indescribable force.
Pure, searing agony flooded his body, cutting through him like molten metal. His knees buckled as his breath was torn from his lungs. He gasped, trying to twist away, but the tendrils held him in place, pressing down like the weight of a collapsing universe. His vision blurred. "What the hell-" Desperately, he reached for the Nexora, willing it to dissolve, to break apart under his command. Nothing happened. Zayne's voice was calm, almost mocking. "There are two things you should remember, boy." Kai gritted his teeth, barely able to lift his head. "Firstly, just because you are the current master of the Nexora does not mean you hold the greatest power here. Since I created it, my will overrides yours." The weight around Kai intensified. His nerves screamed. "Secondly, learning a new skill is never a waste of time for a warrior. Especially not for a pathetic weakling like you."
Kai's vision swam as the tendrils pressed harder. The pain wasn't just physical. It was like his very essence was being pulled apart, unraveled at the seams. Zayne's gaze bore into him, unrelenting. "You think you don't need this? That you can rely on raw instinct alone? That kind of thinking is what gets you killed." Kai struggled, his breath coming in ragged gasps. But deep down, he knew—Zayne wouldn't let up until he yielded. With a shuddering breath, he forced himself to speak. "Fine....FINE!....I'll learn." The moment the words left his lips, the pressure disappeared. The tendrils retracted, vanishing like smoke. Kai collapsed to one knee, chest heaving as he sucked in air like a drowning man. His muscles still burned, but the overwhelming agony was gone. Zayne crossed his arms. "Good. Then let's begin."
The training was brutal. Zayne didn't ease him into it, didn't start with simple movements or explanations. He threw Kai into the deep end and expected him to swim. The first exercise? Endurance. Kai found himself standing within a temporal storm, raw, chaotic energy whipping around him like razor-edged wind. Zayne stood at the edge of the vortex, arms folded as he looked down from his elevated foothold. "Your task is simple," he called over the roar. "Walk forward till you reach the other side." Kai scowled. "Through that? No way" "Unless you'd rather be thrown into something worse, I suggest you do as I say." Zayne replied coldly Kai gritted his teeth and stepped forward. The moment he did, the storm struck. A force unlike anything he'd felt before tore at him, threatening to rip him apart on a molecular level. It was like walking against the current of time itself, every step forward felt like being dragged back a thousand years.
Zayne watched impassively. "Control your energy flow. Don't fight against the vortex, move with it." Easier said than done. The raw power of the storm was relentless. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to retreat. He tried pushing back with his own temporal energy, but it was like throwing pebbles into a hurricane. Move with it.....HOW? He gritted his teeth and adjusted his stance, loosening his movements. Instead of forcing his way forward, he allowed the storm to move around him, shifting his own energy to match its flow. The resistance seemed to lessen. His eyes widened. "Good. Now keep moving." He pushed forward, each step growing steadier. The storm howled, but he adapted. It wasn't perfect....but it was progress! After what felt like weeks, Kai finally managed control his energy to the point he could stand his ground within the vortex and walk across without collapsing. Sadly, this was only the beginning.
After the endurance training came strength and speed. Zayne had Kai perform strikes within a specialized time field: one that constantly accelerated and slowed down at random intervals. One moment his sword was light as a feather, the next it was like swinging a mountain. It was similar to his training with Lorith but this time, it was over a hundred times worse. Zayne forced Kai into battles against projections of himself, each one moving unpredictably, using attacks he hadn't even thought of yet. Zayne drilled him in close combat, correcting his movements with ruthless efficiency. When Kai faltered, Zayne struck him down without hesitation or mercy. Every mistake cost him pain. Every lesson left him barely able to stand. But through the agony, Kai gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stand up each time and face the demon in human form aka Zayne.
Hours turned into days and days turned into months. With the help of Zayne's brutal training, Kai began to improve drastically. His strikes became sharper. His movements more fluid. His temporal energy, once wild and inefficient, began to flow with purpose. Zayne never praised him. Not once. But the way he watched, the slight nods of approval he tried to hide....Kai caught them. By the time Kai collapsed onto his hands and knees, every muscle in his body screaming in protest, he wasn't the same warrior who had first walked in. And he knew it. Zayne loomed over him, arms crossed. "Not bad, kid. But you're still nowhere near ready." Kai let out a breathless laugh. "Figures." Zayne smirked. "Get some rest, as much as I hate to say it, you have earned it."
Kai let himself fall back onto the grass, his body sinking into the soft earth as exhaustion settled deep in his bones. His breaths came in uneven gasps, his muscles burning from the relentless punishment they had endured. The cool air of the Nexora blew across him soothingly as his muscles ached, but for once, he didn't care. The pain, the fatigue, it was all proof that he had survived another round of Zayne's merciless training. Above him, the mosaic sky of the Nexora stretched endlessly, a swirling expanse of shifting colors. Streaks of violet bled into rivers of silver, constellations forming and unraveling in the blink of an eye. It was beautiful in a way that felt almost unreal....like time itself had woven a tapestry out of forgotten stars and fleeting moments. Kai closed his eyes for a moment, letting the rhythmic hum of the Nexora pulse through him. Despite everything, a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. He wasn't the same warrior who had first stepped into this madness. He could feel it. His body moved sharper, his mind worked faster. He was learning. He was growing.
A presence loomed nearby, and Kai forced his head to turn. Zayne had taken a seat a few feet away, his legs stretched out, his arms resting lazily on his knees. His usual rigid stance had softened, just a fraction, but his sharp gaze remained locked on the ever-changing sky. In the dim glow of the Nexora, the silver in his dark hair shimmered, catching fragments of the shifting light. His expression was unreadable, but there was something in his eyes: a distant weight, something buried deep beneath years of battles and burdens. For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The only sound was the faint rustling of the grass as the wind passed through, carrying whispers from timelines unseen. Then, barely above a murmur, Zayne exhaled.
"Things are going smoothly for now," he muttered, more to himself than to Kai. His gaze never left the sky, his voice quiet but laced with something Kai couldn't quite place. Then, almost as if he had spoken an unshakable truth, his expression darkened. "....But disaster always comes uninvited." The words hung in the air, heavy with an unspoken certainty. A quiet warning. A prophecy.